Many people (including many ignorant doctors) believe that calcium deficiency is the reason why middle-aged and elderly people have frequent calf cramps. Is this really the case? It starts with the manifestation of calcium deficiency. The role of calcium is to inhibit the excitability of nerves and muscles, so the performance of calcium deficiency in people is mainly increased excitability of nerves and muscles, which manifests itself in the form of muscle twitching in the limbs or other parts of the body, while the twitching episodes will occur in varying degrees of whistling changes (whistling muscle twitching), rapid heartbeat (heart muscle spasm, rhythm changes), cyanosis, severe vomiting (smooth muscle spasm of the digestive tract, contraction rhythm), and Symptoms of blood in stool, and in severe cases, laryngeal muscle spasm and whistling apnea may result. Therefore, the manifestation of calcium deficiency in the human body is not a twitch in a single location of the body, it is a twitch that can occur in all muscles of the body. In middle-aged and elderly people, the twitching is often limited to a certain limb, mostly on one side of the lower leg. There is no discomfort in other parts of the body, and it is not a generalized twitch. Therefore, leg cramps in middle-aged and elderly people are not calcium deficiency. Since it is not a calcium deficiency, what are the causes of calf cramps? 1, from the gender of frequent calf cramps, there are more women than men; more women than men because women’s muscle groups are not as strong as men’s, and their strength is weaker. It is easy to be fatigued. 2, from the age of frequent calf cramps, more elderly than middle-aged; elderly people have less activity, muscle tend to atrophy and weaken. Easily fatigued. 3, from the frequent calf cramps physical, almost all of them are weak. Weakness means that from childhood the body is weaker than its peers, the body’s ability to repair damage is poor, and the body has a long recovery time after injury. This kind of person’s bone atrophy (osteoporosis) is relatively early, usually around the age of twenty-five that appears. This weak constitution is decided in the embryonic period (mother’s womb), not through the acquired diet can make up for it (the acquired food supplement, can only make up for fat, but not strong). 4, from the frequent occurrence of calf cramps, the more the elderly who insist on walking and exercising during the day, the more likely to have calf cramps at night. Excessive activity leads to fatigue. 5, from the frequent calf cramps environment, people who are active in low temperature are prone to calf cramps. In the low temperature environment, muscle metabolism is reduced, the contraction ability is weakened, and fatigue is more likely to occur. 6, from the above phenomenon can be known:As long as the gender, age, physical weakness, fatigue of any one, several or all of the people can appear at any time the calf muscle cramps. Such people have poor muscle strength and are easily fatigued. In a fatigued state, the muscles on one side of the limb lose their antagonistic strength due to fatigue, and the muscles on the other side are prone to tonic contractions (cramps). Why do cramps in these people occur mostly in the resting state (during sleep at night)? The anterior muscles of the human calf are not as strong as the muscles of the posterior calf from form to strength. When a person is sleeping, the ankle joint is in a relaxed, sagging state. This is formed when the strength of the muscles in the front of the calf and the strength of the muscles in the back of the calf confront each other. The muscles at the back of the calf contract more than the muscles at the front of the calf. If the anterior calf muscles are already in a fatigued state, any slight toe stomp (tiptoe) movement of the ankle joint will cause a continuous spastic contraction of the posterior calf muscles (cramp). Self-treatment after cramp Since cramp is a continuous spastic contraction of the muscle, lengthening the muscle in the opposite direction is the treatment. Using both hands to wrench the toes toward the back of the foot to elongate the muscles in the back of the calf can relieve calf cramps. You can also squat on the floor with your full feet touching the ground and use your weight to lengthen the muscles in the back of your calves. Doing something like this in a warm environment will get twice the effect Prevention is as simple as not doing too much walking during the day. Calf cramps are not prevented by medication, but only by muscle relaxants in case of cramps. In principle, it is best not to use such drugs, which can cause unwanted side effects.